Today's Defense Pulse
U.S. Treasury expands sanctions on Iran-linked shipping network
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a new sanctions round targeting a global network of shipping firms, tanker operators and intermediaries tied to Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical trades. Entities in Hong Kong, the UAE, India, Qatar, Singapore, China, Liberia and the Marshall Islands were added to the Specially Designated Nationals list.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Disciplined Growth Acquisition Corp raises $150M in IPO
As the US Army Adds Drones to Formations, Here’s How One Base Trains Its Operators
The U.S. Army’s new Marne Unmanned Center of Excellence at Fort Stewart opened in March to train soldiers on combat drones. The curriculum blends classroom instruction, 40‑50 hours of virtual‑reality simulation, and live‑flight tests that include obstacle courses and one‑way attack drones. Trainees learn airspace rules, coordinate with civilian air traffic controllers, and practice missions that integrate drones with artillery and armored units. The program aims to produce operators who are not just qualified, but “well‑qualified” for any mission scenario.
USAF Seeks Successor as B‑52s Near Century‑old
USAF Is Going To Explore What Will Finally Replace The B-52 The USAF plans to keep its B-52s until they are nearly a century old, but they cannot fly forever, and costs are already skyrocketing on key upgrades. https://t.co/MjdtQYhH9q
Scale AI Lands $500 Million Pentagon Contract, Five‑fold Boost to Defense Deal
Scale AI has been awarded a $500 million contract by the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, expanding its defense work fivefold from a $100 million deal signed in September 2025. The agreement places the data‑labeling specialist at the center of...
Gen. Larry D. Welch Deterrence Writing Award (Due 6/1/26) | Strategic Command Academic Alliance
The United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is sponsoring the Gen. Larry D. Welch Deterrence Writing Award, with submissions due June 1 2026. The competition accepts papers from junior (undergraduate and master’s) and senior (doctoral, post‑doc and professional) researchers on any strategic deterrence...
US and Iran Exchange Fire as Trump Says War Will ‘Be over Quickly’
The U.S. military struck Iranian missile, drone and command sites after Iran launched missiles, drones and small boats at three U.S. destroyers transiting the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM said the response was defensive and no U.S. vessels were hit. President...
US-Iran Ceasefire Under Threat After Exchange of Strikes in Strait of Hormuz
The United States and Iran clashed in the Strait of Hormuz, putting a month‑long ceasefire to its toughest test yet. The U.S. Navy said it hit Iranian missile, drone and small‑boat launch sites after three destroyers were attacked, while Tehran...
US, Iran Again Exchange Fire in Hormuz
US and Iranian forces exchanged fire again on May 7 as US destroyers attempted to transit the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian units launched missiles, drones and small boats at three US warships, prompting a US counterstrike on Iranian missile launch...
Cognitive Counterintelligence
Cognitive counterintelligence reframes the mind as the most vulnerable perimeter, arguing that adversaries first attack perception, reasoning, and emotion before any physical barrier. The post outlines how heuristics such as confirmation bias, anchoring, and sunk‑cost fallacy can be weaponized through...
US Responds to Iranian Attacks and Targeted Iranian Military Facilities – May 7, 2026
On May 7, 2026 U.S. Central Command reported that Iranian forces launched missiles, drones and fast‑attack boats at three U.S. guided‑missile destroyers transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The ships – USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta and USS Mason – intercepted...
US, Iran Avoid War While Proxies Bait Conflict
A few notes given recent news: - US doesn’t want to go back to war - Iran govt doesn’t want to go back to war - IRGC action in SoH are to bait US back into war - Israel actions in Lebanon are...
Pakistan Air Force Lays Out Next Procurement Steps
The Pakistan Air Force outlined a multi‑year procurement roadmap that emphasizes adding more J‑10CE fighters and heavily upgraded JF‑17 Block‑3 platforms (PFX Alpha) before pursuing the Chinese J‑35AE fifth‑generation stealth jet. It also announced a push for long‑range precision weapons,...
US Rare Earths Champion Views Iran War as Demand ‘Accelerant’
MP Materials Corp., the Pentagon‑backed U.S. rare‑earth producer, said the Iran‑Israel conflict has acted as an accelerant for demand of rare‑earth magnets used in drones and robots. CEO James Litinsky noted that while the strategic importance of the supply chain...
Australian Quantum Technology to Support National Defence Strategy
Australia’s QuantX Labs has launched TEMPO, a quantum clock that delivers up to ten times the precision of conventional GNSS timing systems, now operating in orbit. The technology promises more resilient communications, accurate navigation and robust satellite‑ground synchronization, especially when...
US Says It Carried Out Retaliatory Strikes Against Iran
The U.S. Central Command announced retaliatory strikes against Iran on Thursday, hitting missile‑launch sites, drone facilities, and command‑and‑control nodes it said were responsible for attacks on three U.S. destroyers transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran had earlier fired missiles, drones...
ABS, HD Hyundai and Anduril Industries to Advance Autonomous Surface Vessels
ABS, HD Hyundai and Anduril Industries have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop autonomous surface vessels. The agreement creates an end‑to‑end pipeline covering ship design, construction, AI‑driven autonomy and classification certification. ABS will provide classification and technical advisory services,...
Investors Prioritize Trendy Apps Over AI Defense Risks
Not sure why they’re shocked. Six years ago, when I was COO of an AI defense tech startup at MIT, I met with dozens of them and explained exactly this. They were warned. They were just too busy funding the next Instagram filter...
Aussie Miners Get Inside Track Into US Defence Supply Chain with DIBC Listing
The U.S. Department of Defense launched the Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) in 2024 to fast‑track defence‑critical research and reduce reliance on foreign critical minerals. Membership, now 1,755 strong, has been opened to Australian, Canadian and UK firms, giving them...
Epic Lies
The Washington Post cited a classified CIA assessment showing Iran still holds over 70% of its missile stockpiles and can sustain hostilities for another three to four months, contradicting President Trump’s claims of a decimated Iranian arsenal. The conflict has...
Amidst Ceasefire, U.S. and Iran Trade Strikes in Strait of Hormuz
The United States carried out kinetic strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island and the port of Bandar Abbas while a ceasefire remains in effect. Washington says the attacks do not breach the ceasefire, likening them to recent Iranian strikes on ships...
What’s in Trump’s New Counterterrorism Strategy?
President Donald Trump signed a new national counterterrorism strategy that places drug‑cartel operations in the Western Hemisphere at the top of the U.S. security agenda, shifting away from the jihadist‑centric focus of previous administrations. The document also spotlights left‑wing extremist...
Rocket Lab Joins Raytheon on Space Interceptor Program for Golden Dome
Rocket Lab announced a partnership with Raytheon to develop technologies for the U.S. Space Force’s space‑based interceptor program, a core element of the Pentagon’s Golden Dome missile‑defense architecture. The effort uses Other Transaction agreements that shift upfront funding risk to...
60% of MD5 Password Hashes Are Crackable In Under an Hour
Kaspersky researchers report that a single Nvidia RTX 5090 can crack 60% of MD5‑hashed passwords in under an hour, with 48% broken in under a minute. The study attributes the speed boost to both powerful GPUs and the predictability of real‑world...
RCMP Findings Dispute Media Reports of Foreign Interference in Alberta Independence
Alberta Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis announced that the RCMP found no credible evidence of foreign interference in the province's independence movement. The statement directly challenges recent academic and media reports that warned Russia, the United States and AI‑driven actors...
OpenAI Makes Its Rival to Anthropic's Mythos More Widely Available to Cyber Defenders
OpenAI has launched a limited preview of GPT-5.5-Cyber, a less‑guarded version of its GPT-5.5 model, for vetted cyber‑defenders protecting critical infrastructure. Early testing shows the model performs on par with Anthropic’s Mythos in finding and exploiting software bugs, with Mythos...
Howmet Aerospace Q1 Shows Strong Aero Demand, Solid Margins
Howmet Aerospace just wrapped Q1 2026 — strong demand in commercial aero & defense is the headline. Margins and cash flow looking solid. 🚀 Aerospace
Security Key to Agentic Economy; IronClaw Leads
Excited to work with FailSafe to bring AttackBench: a benchmark for red teaming agents. I believe that true agentic adoption and agentic economy is limited by security and that’s why IronClaw is focused on becoming the most secure (and private) agentic...
Why China’s Warning over Military Blocs Is Finding Listeners in Asia
The 2024 Balikatan exercises saw over 17,000 U.S. and Philippine troops operating near contested waters, with Japan joining live‑fire drills for the first time and other allies such as Australia, Canada, France and New Zealand participating. The drills moved to Palawan...
Freeman Labels Trump's Iran War a Disastrous Folly
Former US Ambassador Chas Freeman on Trump's FOOLISH war of choice in Iran: “This Iran war is our Syracuse expedition… an equally foolish military adventure that is going very badly.” https://t.co/97GMSzevNi
Gulf Tensions Are Noise; US Remains Indispensable
The latest Gulf “escalation” looks more like noise than a strategic shift. Iran keeps proving the Strait can’t be secured. The U.S. keeps proving it can’t be ignored. Saudi & Kuwait reopening access to the US acknowledges they can’t defend themselves alone. https://t.co/UbTcninmEd #Oil...
Iran and U.S. Exchange Fire in Strait of Hormuz
On Thursday the United States and Iran exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran launching missiles and drones at three U.S. destroyers and the U.S. responding by striking Iranian launch sites, command centers and intelligence nodes. CENTCOM reported...
Decades of US Military Prep Face Complex, Slow Countermeasures
The US military has been preparing for decades to take countermeasures, though success would have been neither simple nor quick.
Trump Dismisses Iranian Port Strikes as Mere Love Tap
Iranian port strikes were just a ‘love tap,’ says Trump. https://t.co/fMjcP1QM5z
How the Abraham Accords Fueled a New Era of Conflict
The 2020 Abraham Accords, initially hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough, have evolved into a security pact that deepened Israeli‑Gulf military cooperation. U.S. legislation and the shift of Israel into CENTCOM enabled joint missile‑defense systems and a surge in arms sales,...
Integrating Israel's Directed‑Energy Breakthroughs Into Future Air Defense
The future is combining these massive breakthroughs of directed energy by Israel (our close, capable, willing ally) into an integrated air defense architecture that combines new and old systems.
U.S. Navy Defends Strait of Hormuz Against Iranian Aggression
“U.S. forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes as U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman”
The Russian Navy Is Reestablishing Its Mediterranean Base in Syria
Russia is re‑establishing a permanent naval foothold in Syria’s Tartus port after months of only occasional visits. The Steregushchiy‑class corvette RFS Stoykiy has been docked in Tartus since April, signaling a shift from transient port calls to a sustained presence....
Iran Accuses US of Ceasefire Breach, Targeting Tankers
Reports in Iran say a spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters accused U.S. forces of violating the ceasefire by attacking Iranian oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz and launching airstrikes on civilian areas around Bandar Khamir, Sirik, and...
Trump-Xi Summit Set to Weigh Iran Oil, Taiwan and US Exports
The Trump‑Xi summit will convene in Beijing on May 14‑15, tackling a packed agenda that includes Iranian oil sanctions, Chinese “teapot” refineries, Taiwan arms sales, and the release of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai. U.S. officials stress that while Iran‑related oil...
US Arms Deals Tripled to $25.8 B After Revision
A colleague broke this hours ago: The US approved the sale of air-defense interceptors and other weapons to Middle East partners in deals worth $25.8 billion, three times the amount disclosed when the agreements were first announced https://t.co/7C6GyCE5Ss
The Destroyer of Worlds by Jennie Kermode
"Our Planet, The People, My Blood" is a low‑budget documentary that chronicles the enduring human toll of nuclear weapons testing. Director Daniel Everitt‑Lock and activist Alan Owen trace survivor stories across six global communities, from US atomic veterans to Marshallese...
Iranian Island Port Hit Amid Rising Strait Tensions
Iranian Island Port In Strait Of Hormuz Attacked, State Media Claims It isn't clear what exactly occurred on Qeshm Island, but the reports come at a time of extreme tension around the Strait. https://t.co/EjHcRv3r82
After Replacing TeamPCP Malware, 'PCPJack' Steals Cloud Secrets
SentinelLabs has identified PCPJack, a modular cloud‑native worm that first evicts the supply‑chain group TeamPCP before harvesting a wide range of cloud, container and cryptocurrency credentials. The malware’s bootstrap module establishes persistence, while the monitor script disguises activity and collects...
Hormuz Hangs over Beijing Summit
President Donald Trump is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping amid a growing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian actions have threatened global oil flow. The White House has pressed Beijing to use its influence over Tehran...
US and Iran Trade Fire; Ceasefire and Deal Uncertain
US and Iran exchange fire in the Strait. And the ceasefire? And how close to a deal?
Iran, U.S. Mulling One‑Page Plan to Reopen Hormuz
NYT: Three senior Iranian officials say Tehran and the United States are discussing a one-page plan for both sides to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end hostilities for 30 days while they try to reach a comprehensive deal. https://t.co/X7quMi0g38
With Launches Slated to Grow a Hundredfold, Space Force Seeks More Sites, Money, People, and AI
The U.S. Space Force announced a plan to expand its launch cadence from more than 200 rockets this year to as many as 3,000 annually by 2036. Achieving that scale will require additional launch pads, significantly higher funding, a doubled...
AI Could Secure Software by Eliminating All Vulnerabilities
Maybe powerful AI will favor the cyber defense. Vulnerabilities are finite in number, so if you can fix them all, maybe software just becomes much more secure.
US‑Iran Peace Talks Resume as China Hosts Diplomats
The news that the U.S. and Iran are moving toward restarting peace talks came as Tehran’s foreign minister visited Beijing, throwing a spotlight on President Trump’s own coming trip to China and the pivotal role the two powers could play...
Thales Unveils Compact Anti-Jam Military GPS System
Thales announced the TopStar Smart Receiver, a compact positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) system built to survive contested electronic‑warfare environments. The unit combines dual‑constellation GNSS—including military Galileo PRS and civilian GPS—with an adaptive Controlled Radiation Pattern Antenna that mitigates jamming....
Maj. Gen. Moga Nominated to Lead USAFA Following Lt. Gen. Bauernfeind
President Joe Biden nominated Maj. Gen. Paul D. Moga, currently commander of Third Air Force, to become the 23rd superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy. The nomination includes promotion to lieutenant general, the Air Force’s three‑star rank. Moga would...